Nautical apparatus having a removable centerboard



April 23, 1968 J. B. PILLON 3,379,164

NAUTICAL APPARATUS HAVING A REMOVABLE CENTERBOARD Filed March 1, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTUE/Vf/S April 23, 1968 J. B'. PILLON 3,379,164

NAUTICAL APPARATUS HAVING A REMOVABLE CENTERBOARD Filed March 1, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,379,164 NAUTICAL APPARATUS HAVING A REMOVABLE CENTERBOARD Justin Benoit Pillon, 38 Rue Bngeaud, Lyon, Rhone, France Filed Mar. 1, 1967, Ser. No. 619,697 Claims priority, application France, Mar. 3, 1966, 51,850, Patent 1,482,036 8 Claims. (Cl. 115-61) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A floating support for a person having a centerboard with a manually operated propulsion means on the centerboard. The centerboard is mounted in a groove under the support.

The present invention relates to :1 nautical apparatus designed to support and propel through the water a person lying in the swimming position, of the type consisting of a floating support on which the user is permitted to rest on his chest and on his stomach if necessary, and a propulsion device comprising a manual control unit coupled to a screw-propeller by means of a drive system.

One of the aims of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this type which is simple to construct and which, while providing the user with great ease of operation and high degree of effectiveness in its utilization, presents the further advantage of being readily adjustable even during use in order to conform either to the physical build or to the convenience of the user and of permitting disassembly for storage or transportation within the minimum space, all such operations being preferably performed without the aid of any tools.

To this end, the apparatus according to the invention is characterized in that the propulsion device is carried by a removable centerboard slidably mounted in a longitudinal groove formed in the underface of the floating support, a locking means being provided for securing said centerboard at will in the desired position with respect to the floating support.

By virtue of this arrangement, in order to adjust the position of the manual control unit with respect to the floating support, it is merely necessary to release the centerboard and to cause this latter to slide either forward or backward within the groove of the floating support. This operation can be performed even during use. Thus, the user who is resting on the floating support on his chest and possibly also on his stomach is able to actuate the locking means, then to modify the position of the centerboard with respect to the floating support by displacing the manual control unit either in a forward or backward direction.

Furthermore, the centerboard can be separated from the floating support by causing it to slide completely outside the groove of this latter. The elements can then be placed flat against each other and thus take up the minimum space, which makes it possible to store them, for example, in a suitcase or in the boot of a car.

As an advantageous feature, the centerboard is of greater length than the floating support so that, in the utilization position, the screw-propeller being located beneath the floating support body at the rear end thereof, the manual control unit is located at the forward end of said floating support body.

The user is thus provided with greatease of operation and has both arms extending forward in front of his head in a position which is conducive both to effective balance and to exertion of the requisite eflort whilst the users legs remain completely free behind the floating support. The user can assist the propulsion by means of a leg-beat or scissors kick and can also use his legs to direct the apparatus.

Further properties and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one form of execution which is given by way of example and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in part-sectional elevation of a nautical apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view on a larger scale showing a detail of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates the manual control unit and a portion of the motion transmission system;

FIG. 5 is an overhead plan view of the floating support element;

FIGS. 6 and 6a are diagrammatic fragmentary sec-- tional views showing a device for locking the floating support in position with respect to the centerboard;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a constructional detail;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are fragmentary sectional views showing the mode of attachment of a ballast weight to the centerboard.

As shown more especially in FIGS. 1 and 2, the nautical apparatus according to the invention essentially comprises a floating support 1 on which the user rests on his chest and if necessary on his stomach and a centerboard 2 which is removably attached to said support, means being provided as will be described hereinafter for the purpose of interlocking said support and said centerboard. The centerboard 2 is made up of two suitably curved halfshells 3 and 4 each having a flange 5, 6 respectively, which extends over the entire periphery of each half-shell so as to permit the assembly of said half-shells by bonding, welding or like means.

The floating support 1 is also constructed in the form of two half-shells 7 and 8 provided with peripheral flanges 9 and 10 for assembly purposes. Said half-shells are molded in such a manner as to reserve two lateral floats 11 and 12 which serve to increase the stability of the complete assembly and also constitute a means for maintaining th users body in position.

As is more especially apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, the half-shell 8 is molded in such a manner as to comprise on its underface a channel 13 of relatively substantial depth for the purpose of engaging therein the two assembled flanges 5 and 6 of the half-shells which constitute the centerboard. The internal width of said channel, that is to say the distance between its two walls 14, 15, is substantially equal to the external width of the centerboard as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, so that the floating support covers the centerboard to a sufficient depth to prevent any angular displacement of this latter with respect to the support in the plane of the figure.

In order to attach the centerboard to the floating support in a removable manner, the flanges 5 and 6 are preferably turned outwards so as to form wings 16 and 17 which engage between the base 18 of the channel 13 and L-section guides 19 and 20 which are rigidly fixed respectively to the walls 14 and 15 of said channel.

It is therefore observed that, in this manner, the floating support can be displaced longitudinally with respect to the centerboard and can be detached from this latter for such purposes as transportation and that, on the other hand, the centerboard cannot be separated from the support in the vertical direction.

This arrangement makes it possible in addition to adjust the relative positions of these two elements according to the size of the user and then to interlock said two elements. It would evidently be possible to provide for this purpose any known device such as clamping screws or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, it is also possible to form on one of the wings 16 or 17 or on a member which is integral with said wings a series of notches as shown at 21. Provision is made at the front end of the floating support 1 for a rod 22 operated by a crank-handle 23 fitted with a knob 24, said rod being located at the same level as the notches such as the notch 21.

The rod 22 is provided with a flattened portion formed across its half-circumference. When the knob 24 is in the position shown in full lines, the full portion of the rod 22 is engaged in one of the notches of the series of notches 21 and, since said rod is rigidly fixed to the floating support 1, both said support and the centerboard are immovably assembled.

It the knob 24 is moved in the direction of the arrow F and brought to position 24, the notches 21 are free and the floating support can be displaced relatively to the centerboard.

The propulsion of this apparatus is effected by means of a manual control mechanism enclosed in a casing 25 mounted at the front end of the centerboard and designed to drive a screw-propeller 26 which is placed at the rear end of the centerboard.

Said casing 25 is traversed by a shaft 25a fitted at each end with a crank-arm 27 and crank-handle 28 which can be actuated by the user. Ther is keyed on said shaft 25a a bevel gear 29 which engages with a bevel pinion 30, said bevel pinion being keyed on the end of a drive shaft 31 on the end of which is mounted the screwpropeller 26. Said drive shaft passes through the centerboard 2 between the half-shells 3 and 4, as shown more clearly in FIG. 2.

As is apparent, the said drive shaft is carried by a bearing 32 in the vicinity of the pinion and by a bearing 33 in the vicinity of the screw-propeller.

The operation of the device can readily be understood. The user rotates the crank-handles such as the handle 28, thereby imparting to the screw-propeller a rotational motion which is stepped up in the speed ratio of the two gears 29 and 30. Naturally, all due precautions are taken to provide leak-tightness in the vicinity of the bearing 33.

There can be seen at 34 an elevator plane of generally trapezoidal shape which is mouted on the centerboard 2, for example in the vicinity of the tube which surrounds the drive shaft 31.

It may prove necessary to ballast the apparatus, especially if it has to be used in a somewhat heavy sea. Furthermore, it is highly advantageous to ensure that the ballast or Weighting element employed for this purpose can be detached in order that the machine may not be overloaded when the weighting element is of no further practical use.

With this object in mind, the flanges 5, 6 which are located at the lower end of the centerboard can be given a semicircular shape as shown at 35 and 36 so that, after the two flanges have been joined together by welding, the bottom portion of the centerboard is of generally tubular shape.

The tube thus formed can be covered by half-shells 37, 38 made of lead, each half-shell having the shape of a half-circumference and comprising a flange 39, 40 respectively. The two flanges 39, 40 are therefore intended to be joined together, for example, by means of nuts and bolts. By virtue of this arrangement, the ballast or weighting element can be securely placed in position in a reliable manner and can be rapidly removed by unscrewing the bolts.

By way of alternative, said flanges 5 and 6 can be turned outwards substantially at right angles as shown at 41 and 42 in FIG. 9. The weighting element can in 4 that case be provided in the form of two ingots or bars 43 and 44 each provided with a channel 45, 46 in which are respectively engaged the outwardly folded flanges 41 and 42. These two bars can be assembled as shown at 47 by means of nuts and bolts.

In order to ensure a greater degree of stability, the floating support can be completed by two fins such as 48 and 49 (as shown in FIG. 5). Said two fins are intended to be engaged over the flanges 9 and 10 which serve to assemble the two half-shells of the floating support. To this end, and as is more clearly shown in FIG. 7, said flanges are turned outwards substantially at right angles as shown at 50 and 51 and the fin such as 49, for example, terminates in a strengthening rib 52 in which is pierced a channel 53 of T-shaped internal configuration corresponding to the shape of the flanges 9 and 10 and the folded-back edges 50 and 51. Said channel 53 opens on at least one end of the stabilizer fin, thereby permitting the possibility of sliding the fin into position. The fin can be maintained in this position by known means; in par ticular, the channel 53 could be open at only one end of the fin whilst the other end of the latter could be abuttingly applied against the end of the turned-back portions 51 and 52 of the flanges 9 and 10. Provision could also be made for bolts which pass through the heel 52 and the flanges 9 and 10 and which cooperate with wing-nuts.

As will be readily understood, the component parts of this apparatus, and in particular the half-shells which constitute the floating support on the one hand and the centerboard on the other hand could be constructed of any suitable material such as, for example, painted sheet metal, plastic-covered sheet metal, or stainless steel sheet.

It has proved advantageous to form these various elements of plastic material and more especially of laminated plastic. Similarly, the gears of the drive shaft and the screw-propeller itself can advantageously be fabricated of a suitable plastic material.

The mode of execution of the invention which has just been described has been given solely by way of example and any detail modifications can be contemplated without thereby departing either from the scope or the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A nautical apparatus designed to support and propel through the water a person lying in the swimming position, of the type consisting of a floating support on which the user is permitted to rest on his chest and on his stomach if necessary, and a propulsion device comprising a manual control unit coupled to a screw-propeller by means of a drive system, characterized in that the propulsion device is carried by a removable centerboard slidably mounted in a longitudinal groove formed in the underface of the floating support, a locking means being provided for securing said centerboard at will in the desired position with respect to said floating support.

2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the centerboard is of greater length than the floating support so that, in the utilization position, the screw-propeller being located beneath the floating support body at the rear end thereof, the manual control unit is located at the forward end of said floating support body.

3. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the centerboard is provided at the top portion thereof with a T-section rail which is slidably mounted in a guide at the bottom of the floating support groove.

4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the centerboard is constructed by assembling two half-shells each provided with a peripheral flange turned outwards substantially at right angles so as to constitute a T-section rail slidably fitted in a guide at the bottom of the floating support groove.

5. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the centerboard is fitted with a stabilizing elevator plane.

6. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, character- 5 ized in that the centerboard comprises a fastening device for a detachably mounted ballast Weight.

7. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that two stabilizer fins are mounted on each Side of the floating support.

8. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the floating support is constituted by two assembled half-she11s forming lateral bolster-type floats.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1962 Foster 115-6.1 X 1/1964 Brown 1156.1 

